Lunch on 9th March was followed by a fascinating account of the history and current life of Rochdale’s Curtain Theatre given by one of its trustees and actors Mike Law.
Mike recounted how a small group of brothers, sisters and their friends assembled in 1925 to discuss setting up a local theatre. Although there were many other organisations producing plays at that time it was decided to go ahead, so a search for premises began. They found the local fire station drill hall for performances, but rehearsals initially had to be held in members’ homes. Nevertheless, despite this difficult start, and several moves, the theatre group has flourished. They moved into their current home in 1932. The group is not a theatre club and it appears to be run almost on an ad hoc basis; yet it is very successful. Their policy is not to have a committee, but merely to have two main directors, one to deal with all financial matters and the other for artistic matters and it all works! They put on 5 plays a year, run for two weeks each. Invited directors and players are often those in charge of the plays. Having answered many audience questions about these unusual arrangements as Mike says, “If it ain’t broke – don’t fix it”
He finished his talk with an amusing monologue by Marriott Edgar called “The Jubilee Sov’reign” – google it!!
For details of our group contact Ann Smith on 0161 766 3495.
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